Sunday, October 24, 2010

Thank you for praying for Heather as she traveled home last week and got to spend time with her mom. It was a great visit. Her travel was pretty smooth, and it’s great to have her back. Thanks for praying for the kids and me this last week as we lived without mommy. The kids had a great time with their grandparents–who are here today! Thank you.

And I had a great week spending time with many of you. I didn’t get to visit everyone in the church–and if you didn’t get a visit this week–and you’d like one– just speak up! Visitation is one of my favorite pastoral activities. And I’d love to visit with all of you as time allows.

Now, let me ask you a question.

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?

For me, it was the stillbirth of our first child, Charis Mitchell. It happened in 1999, and I remember so much of it vividly and painfully.

What is it for you?

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?

What is the worst thing that you have suffered?

Last February, we got the call that Heather’s mom had stage 4 cancer, probably had it for years and it had gone undetected. She’s gone through 5 rounds of chemo and now there is nothing medically left to do. Just live her life out.

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?

How did it feel?

Did you know what to do with it?

Did you have a category for it?

Suffering can be so bewildering, so confusing, that unless we are prepared in advance for it, we won’t know how to respond to it.

Unless we’ve got a great, functional, practical theology of suffering before it comes, the chances are that we will buckle under it and flail around not knowing what to do.

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?

The worst thing that ever happened to Jeremiah was the exile of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem.

In the year 586 BC, God brought judgment upon the nation of Judah. He had promised exile and warned of judgment for hundreds of years. And Judah had, by and large, ignored those warnings.

And in 586 BC, God kept His promise to bring disaster on His rebellious people. The King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, sacked and destroyed the city of Jerusalem.

And Jeremiah, the prophet, was there. He saw it with his own eyes. And his eyes were full of tears.

Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet” because even though he had to faithfully deliver a message of woe to the people, he didn’t have to like it.

His message was, by and large, a message of doom, condemnation, and judgment.

And it caused him to weep.

The worst thing that he could imagine was the destruction of his beloved city–Jerusalem. The capital of the nation. The headquarters of the homeland. The jewel, the apple of the Israelite’s eye. The location of the temple. The city that stood for the people. When Jerusalem went, so did the people.

And Jerusalem fell.

And Jeremiah wept.

And he wrote about his suffering in a little book tucked away between the major prophets called Lamentations.

We’re going to take a break from the Gospel of Luke and today look into the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament.

I invite you to turn there with me. It’s a little hard to find. If you open your Bible to the middle, you’ll find the Psalms. Lamentations is to the right. If you have found Isaiah keep going to the right. Jeremiah, and then Lamentations, right before Ezekiel.

And turn to chapter 3.

We’re going to read the most famous verses in the book of Lamentations. We sing the words of these few verses all the time. They are very familiar.

But their tucked into the very middle of the one of the saddest books in the whole Bible. I mean, the name of the book is Lament. Which basically means to be sad. “Sad-Thoughts” is the name of the book. Lamentations.

And that’s great. We need books like Lamentations.

Because life is not always happy! It’s not always smooth. It’s not always pleasant.

We need books like Lamentations.

One of the most amazing things about Lamentations is how it is structured. 4 of the 5 chapters of Lamentations are a acrostic poems. Do you know what an acrostic is?

It’s like every sentence starts with a different letter of the alphabet in order.

Like the first line starts with A and the second line with B and so on. That’s something that the Hebrew poets loved to do. Psalm 119 is like that. And Proverbs 31 is like that.

But Lamentations is even more carefully structured.

Here in chapter 3, which we’re going to look at closely, each stanza (like a paragraph in poetry) begins with the next letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Dalet, etc) and each sentence within that stanza also begins with that same letter.

It’s very carefully composed.

I think that’s awesome.

You know why? Because it says that there is a lot of thought that has gone into this expression of sad thoughts, of bad feelings, of lamentations.

Jeremiah (who I believe wrote this book, actually formally anonymous, but most people believe that Jeremiah wrote it, Jeremiah) put meticulous thought in how to express his grief and sorrow and pain over what had happened to him and his beloved city.

And he shows us how to be sad. He shows us how to suffer. How to practice the lost art of lament.

Someday, we’ll do the whole book together, and we’ll learn a lot of different principles about responding to suffering.

Today, we’ll see just a few, perhaps the brightest. The whole book calls for careful study.

But today, we’re going to read verses 19 through 24 of chapter 3. Have you found it?

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

It’s right there in verse 23.

“Great is your faithfulness.”

That’s where we get our songs. Right here from that verse. Lamentations 3:23.

Nearly every Celebration Sunday, we sing Hymn #43, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” We’re going to sing it in just few minutes again.

Its come right out of this passage.

Which isn’t a passage about good feelings. It’s a passage about Bad Feelings.

A passage about Sad Feelings. A passage about suffering and lamentation.

Great Is Your Faithfulness...

#1. WHEN IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE IT.

Jeremiah tells God that His faithfulness is great at a time when he doesn’t really feel it.

Things are going well. The worst thing that he could imagine has happened.

The threats are over and so is Jerusalem.

And it stinks. It hurts. It’s painful. It’s terrible. It’s suffering.

Verses 19 and 20 say this, “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.”

The first line could be taken as a prayer request. It could be translated, “Remember my affliction and my wandering.”

“Lord, don’t forget what I’ve suffered.”

Verse 20 clearly says that Jeremiah hasn’t forgotten. And he, I think, is speaking in chapter 3 for the whole of the nation, especially the remnant who either believes or at least will repent. V.20

“I well remember [my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and gall], and my soul is downcast within me.”

Have you been there?

I love the realism of the Bible. The Bible is not sugar coated. It is not fake in the slightest.

There is no sense that if you come to Jesus then your life will be a bed of roses.

You will be healthy, wealthy, and well-liked.

Knowing God means an easy road from here on out.

No.

The Bible paints a realistic picture of life which includes suffering and sadness.

And it even gives us patterns to follow those times of suffering and sadness come. Divine patterns.

I love that about the Bible.

It doesn’t always feel like God’s faithfulness is great.

Sometimes our minds are full of affliction, wandering, bitterness, and gall. Sometimes our souls are downcast within us.

And that’s okay.

We should tell God about it.

We can pray about that. And pray like that. Honestly. He loves our honest hearts.

We can write it down in a song. We can think long and hard about it.

We can express our lamentations in the right way to the Lord.

We don’t have to pretend that everything is fine and dandy.

It doesn’t always feel like God’s faithfulness is great.

But it is.

Things are not always as they feel.
Things are not always as they seem.

In fact, they often are not as they seem.

God’s faithfulness is great even when it doesn’t feel like it. V.21

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Verse 21 is a turning point.

That “yet” in verse 21 says so much!

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope...great is your faithfulness.”

Even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Do you need to hear that today?

Maybe right now it doesn’t feel like it for you.

Maybe you’re in a dark night of the soul.

Maybe you’re hurting. Maybe God seems distant.

Maybe you’re very disappointed, confused, bewildered, sad.

Or maybe you’re okay today, but you need to remind yourself of this right now so that when the feelings come, you’re ready to call this to mind, “Great is your faithfulness.”

We call this Celebration Sunday, and we celebrate 118 years of God’s faithfulness to our church family.

118 years. That’s awesome!

It hasn’t always felt like it.

Our church has gone through some pretty rough times. We’ve faced times when the money was scarce, when attendance dwindled to almost nothing, when the membership was only 7 people, and only 3 of them had jobs.

We’ve gone through conflicts and church splits. The most painful one was in 1992-93. And just my mentioning it probably fills many of you with some painful memories and uncomfortable feelings.

It’s not always felt fine and dandy at Lanse Free Church.

But God has always been faithful to us.

Every one of those 118 years. Every day of those 118 years. Every single day.

Great Is Your Faithfulness.

#2. EVERY SINGLE DAY. V.21 again.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed”

The word for “love” there in verse 22 is “hesed.” It’s the word for God’s covenant love. His unfailing love. His love that is promised to His people and can be counted upon no matter what. His steadfast love.

And v.22 says that it’s because of that steadfast love that we are not consumed. Or another way of translating it would make the consumed about the love meaning “the steadfast love of the LORD never is consumed, never ceases.”

And that fits with the next phrase... “for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

His compassions, His mercies, never fail.

He isn’t moody.

He doesn’t get up some days on the wrong side of the bed.

Aren’t you glad that you and I aren’t God?

Somedays we just get up and there’d be hell to pay.

“I don’t feel like being compassionate to those people of mine. They are sinners, they fail, they’re lazy, they don’t meet up with expectations. They are slackers!

And today I just don’t feel like lovin’ on them.”

That’s not the LORD. His compassions for His people never fail.

I love the picture of verse 23. Everyone does.

“His compassions [His tender mercies] are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Every morning.

Every morning!

With the dawn comes a new wave of God’s mercy.

Every morning.

Every single day.

Look for them.

One of the things that my wise wife often says is that we need to look each morning for new mercies.

Yesterdays mercies are yesterday. And God has promised new mercies every morning. So we have to go looking for them.

We know they are there. We can count on them.

Let’s look for them.

I was at the Gisewhites on Thursday, attending their Link Group–which is an excellent Link Group, in case you’d like to join one. They are studying the book of Isaiah and there was a great discussion about God’s Word there.

And I noticed a plaque on the Gisewhite’s wall. I was facing it, so I was staring at it the whole meeting.

It said something like this, “Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.”

“His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” Look for them.

“Great is your faithfulness.”

Every single day.

What does it mean for God to be faithful? It means that He always keeps His promises.

Whatever He has said, He will do.

It may not be on our time-table. It may not even look like what we expected.

But none of His promises fall to the ground. None of His promises ever fail.

He is perfectly faithful with a steadfast love for His people.

Great is His faithfulness.

Amen?

Okay, so what should we do about that?

How do we live differently because we’ve read these few verses?

It doesn’t necessarily change how we feel. Jeremiah has two and half more chapters of lamentation to go!

You and I might have a lot more sad feelings to feel and to express.

What difference does it make that God is faithful? What should we do?

Three points of application to take home with us:

#1. SAY THIS TO HIM.

Say, “Great is Your faithfulness.”

Notice that this is a prayer.

He doesn’t just say, “God is faithful. God’s faithfulness is great.”

In the middle of his pain, in the middle of his suffering, in the middle of his lament, he calls out to God, “Great is your faithfulness.”

He says it to the LORD Himself.

It makes it seem a lot more real when you talk to Him.

“Lord, it hurts. This is the worst thing that has every happened to me.”

“But great is your faithfulness. I trust you.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t like it. My soul is downcast within me. But great is your faithfulness!”

Say that to Him when you are suffering.

And you will find that God’s compassions are right there with you.

Declare to the Lord that you believe that His mercies are new every morning and that you’re going to look for them.

And you will find them.

“Great is your faithfulness, Lord unto me.”

Even when it doesn’t feel like it.
And every single day.

But don’t just tell him. Tell yourself that.

#2. SAY THIS TO YOURSELF.

Did you catch how Jeremiah is preaching to his own heart, his own soul?

Look back up at verse 21, “Yet this I call to mind...”

He tells himself to remember something. “Hey, self, don’t forget. God is faithful!”

And look down at verse 24, “I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’” King James–“I will hope in Him.”

Jeremiah doesn’t just pray these words, he reminds himself of the truth of God’s faithfulness. He tells himself that the LORD is his “portion” – his lot, his treasure, his only comfort in life and death, his satisfaction, his portion.

He reminds himself that God has great steadfast love and great faithfulness and that it is worth it to endure the suffering (which will last for moment) because joy will last forever. Hope in him.

All too often we listen to ourselves instead of speaking to ourselves.

Often we listen to our feelings, and we don’t talk back to them.

But our feelings can be deceived.

We need to speak to our hearts and remind them of what is true.

“Hey, Matt, don’t forget it’s only because of the LORD’s great love that we are not consumed. For his compassions never fail. Matt! Don’t forget that they are new every single morning. Great is HIS faithfulness! Hope in Him, Matt.”

Say this to yourself every day. “God’s faithfulness is great.”

Lanse Free Church, “How great is our God. Sing with me, How great, how great is our God’s faithfulness!”

And that’s the last one. Last application.

#3. SAY THIS TO OTHERS.

Jeremiah wrote this to be read by others. To be (in some cases) sung by others.

It’s not a fun song. It’s not a popcorn and candy song that’s a blast to sing.

But we need songs like this. We need dirges. Because life hurts!

But most of the time, we need our sad songs to have this embedded in their middle.

Hope in the Lord! Because His faithful.

We know this now even more than Jeremiah did.

He didn’t know about the Suffering Servant.

He didn’t know what we know about the Messiah.

He didn’t know Jesus.

Jesus was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.

If anyone knew about being sad, it was Jesus.

He felt like Lamentation in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary.

He is one who said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It’s because He was the very embodiment of the steadfast love of the Lord.

His death and resurrection was God keeping His promises.

And they keep us from being consumed by our sin.

It’s only because of what He did on the Cross that we are not consumed and that we can say today, “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”

And we need to tell other people just how great He really is.

Just how faithful.

He’s too good to keep to ourselves.

Say this to others. “Great is God’s faithfulness.”

What’s the worst thing has every happened to you?

Do you know how to respond to it?

My favorite mother-in-law is only 59. That seems way too young for what she’s got to go through right now. But this is how she’s handling her illness.

If you were to ask her, she’d say, “God has been so faithful to me. Great is His faithfulness.”

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About Me

I'm the happy husband of Heather (a Proverbs 31 mega-woman!), the glad father of the Fab Four (Robin, Andrew, Peter, and Isaac), the joyful pastor of Lanse Evangelical Free Church, a district leader in the awesome Allegheny District of the EFCA, book review coordinator of EFCA Today, and the author of a book on Resisting Gossip (CLC Publications, September 2013).

Disclaimers

Content:

Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed on Hot Orthodoxy are my own and not that of Lanse Free Church or anyone else. I am accountable to the elders and congregation of LEFC, but they don't necessarily agree with every single thing I think (and that's a healthy thing). I always say, "I have a million opinions, and they are free to the public!"

Book Reviews:

Many of the books reviewed on Hot Orthodoxy have been given to me by publishers and authors. I've never been asked to produce a favorable review in exchange for the book, and if they did, I wouldn't publish a review.